Roger Collins
.]] Roger Collins was the brother of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard. He lived at Collinwood with his sister, his niece Carolyn and his son David. Childhood When Roger was a boy growing up at Collinwood, he used to bring a picnic lunch out to Widows' Hill and dream for hours (2). Roger loved the Rover Boys adventure books (6). Inheritance Roger's father died in the mid-1940s and he and Elizabeth received an equal share of the inheritance (17, 41). Roger quickly spent the entirety of his inheritance, having fun with the money, and put his shares in the family business up for public auction. Elizabeth was forced to use some of her remaining inheritance to buy up the shares herself in order to keep it in the family (41). Manslaughter trial Roger was once good friends with Burke Devlin (7). One day in 1957, Roger was driving with Burke Devlin and Laura in a car that hit and killed a man (7, 43). Roger testified in court that Burke was driving the car and the jury convicted Burke of manslaughter, sending him to prison for five years (13, 17). Burke immediately lost his cool and began threatening to kill Roger. He swore he'd come back to Collinsport and take everything the Collins' owned (21, 24). Sam Evans was somehow involved in the incident, but only he and Roger knew what had really happened (22). In order to keep Sam quiet, Roger paid him $15,000 under the pretense of buying some paintings (19, 39). The day after Burke's trial, Roger married Laura, whom Burke had been seeing, and the two immediately moved to Augusta. Roger promised Elizabeth never to return to Collinwood and, in exchange, she sent him money every month. (10, 13, 32). Laura and David Roger's marriage was not a happy one and they often fought about Burke. Their son David was born in 1958, nearly eight months into their marriage and Roger hated the boy, constantly wanting to send him away to boarding school or an institution. Roger also always wondered if David was actually Burke's son (2, 10, 32). Laura often expressed that she wanted Roger to leave them (10). Laura eventually fell ill and was committed to a hospital (6, 31). Return to Collinsport Some time after Laura became unwell, Roger returned with David to Collinsport in 1967 much to his sister's dismay and they stayed at Collinwood (10). Roger began working at the office of the cannery (41). When Burke Devlin returned to town a month or two later, Roger feared he'd come back to destroy or kill him (4, 13, 32). Burke came up to Collinwood on his second night in town, having been brought there by Carolyn (10). Burke insisted that he only came back to town for a few days and held no grudge against Roger or his family. Before leaving, Burke asked Roger to meet him at the Blue Whale later to discuss a business deal (13). Having earlier had the bleeder valve removed from the brake cylinder by David, Roger's car crashed on its way down the hill from Collinwood. Roger suffered minor injuries including a bruised and sprained left arm and a cut on his forehead that required a few stitches (16, 17). Naturally, Roger assumed that Burke caused the crash and tried vehemently to convince Sheriff Carter of this (23). Eventually, Roger learned that it was in fact David who had removed the valve, and only after much convincing by Elizabeth did he allow David to remain at Collinwood (31, 32). When Laura returned and expressed an interest in regaining custody of David, Roger was eager to accommodate her (130, 134, 135). Victoria Winters Victoria was an orphan hired by Elizabeth to tutor David when he and Roger returned to Collinwood. Roger felt her presence was unnecessary, but Elizabeth had an ulterior motive and insisted (1, 6). Elizabeth even went so far as to force Roger into telling Vicki that she'd been recommended to Roger by someone involved with the Hammond Foundling Home (25). Life Roger enjoyed drinking brandy (4), and he occasionally wore glasses (2). In 1967, he drove a convertible car (19). Roger's nickname for Carolyn was "Kitten" (4). For her sixteenth birthday, he bought her a birthstone ring (38, 40). Appearances 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23, 25, 26, 28, 30, 31, 32, 36, 37, 39, 40, 41, 134, 135, 214, 218, 219, 228 Category:Dark Shadows Characters